Musicology is the study of music, especially the history of different kinds of music and how they work. It is a university subject: you read, listen, compare, and try to explain, rather than only practise an instrument. It can cover church music from long ago, folk songs, how a symphony is built, or how a style travelled from one country to another. People use the word in academic talk. Though actually, not every music class is musicology — learning to sing or play is training; musicology is closer to history, culture, and looking closely at how music is made.